Perhaps the Bears' giving mood was due to it being Christmas Eve or the impending first night of Hanukkah. Both sides of the ball were in the holiday spirit as the offense turned the ball over five times — all compliments of Matt Barkley's right arm — and the defense gave up 478 yards as the Redskins wrapped up the Bears' home schedule with a 41-21 thumping in front of a sparse Soldier Field crowd.

Bears head coach John Fox offered some sympathy and a message of hope to a fanbase whose interest has waned over the course of the season. There were a reported 58,837 tickets distributed, in a stadium with a capacity of 61,500, of which only 38,837 were used.

“I feel bad for our fans, we have great fans,” Fox said. “We have great fans here, we have great fans when we travel. They hang with us. Better days are to come.

“We see improvement. It’s not in our record but I think we are closer than people think.”

Closer to what, exactly? A seven-win season? Anyone who watched the game saw a clear talent gap between the two teams, and that's saying a lot considering the Redskins aren't even a playoff team. If the improvement isn't in the record, where could it possibly be? Each passing week shines a spotlight on the deficiencies of this roster. I want whatever eggnog Foxy's having, post haste.

Not only do the Redskins possess more talent than the Bears, they were a step ahead of the Bears schematically. The Bears couldn't penetrate the Redskins' protection, which forced defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to send extra men in pressure packages. Yet the Redskins were able to pick the blitzes up — Kirk Cousins was hit only three times and never sacked — and turn them into explosive gains on well-timed screens and play-action passes. (Bears linebacker Leonard Floyd, one of the few bright spots on the team, left with an apparent concussion.)

As it's been all season, the Bears secondary was exploited. Cousins attacked Tracy Porter, the team's best coverage cornerback, with ease. Per ProFootballFocus (PFF), Cousins had a 109.7 passer-efficiency rating when targeting Porter, going 4-for-6 for 157 yards, 71 of which came after the catch.

Porter, who just two days ago was named the 2016 Good Guy award winner by the Chicago chapter of the Professional Football Writers of America, made no excuses for his Bad Corner performance after the game.

“Shitty performance by me,” Porter said. “I embarrassed my teammates, the Bears, the coaches, myself. I had a terrible performance.”

Cousins repeatedly delivered explosive plays for the Redskins' offense. Of his 270 passing yards, 178 came on five completions. Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay scrambled the reads of inside linebackers and safeties, drawing them in with play-action fakes to take advantage of the Bears' aggressive defensive front, while lifting the top off the defense with deep routes up the seam. The end result was huge voids created in the middle of the Bears defense for Redskins receivers to run free on crossing routes.

“You're going to get sucked up in play-action, it's going to happen,” inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman said. “Especially with our front seven, we're aggressive. All of our linebackers are going to shoot stuff.

“But everybody has to be on the same page. Know what everybody's doing out there. Everybody has a job to do. We've got to go perform.”

This was Freeman's first game back after a four-game suspension for testing positive for PEDs. The Bears could have used some enhanced performance on either side of the ball. They didn't play continuity football.

For the second straight week, Barkley's ball security was a major issue. After his five-interception performance against the Redskins, he has nine turnovers in the last two games.

“I think I was standing in my way today,” Barkley said. “Just in my own head of trying to do too much and trying to win the game when we were down. You just gotta treat it as a 0-0 game, make smart decisions with the ball and give our guys a chance to win.”

Bears quarterback Matt Barkley walks off the field after throwing an interception against the Washington Redskins during the second half at Soldier Field. Washington won 41-21. (Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports)

He didn't give his guys a chance to do much of anything. Despite making some pinpoint throws, none prettier than his touchdown pass on a scissors route to Cam Meredith (nine catches, 135 yards) in the corner of the end zone, Barkley has made catastrophic mistakes which have been too much for the team to overcome.

With his five picks, Barkley was Santa Claus for the Washington defensive backfield.

“It was like every time he threw a pass past 15 yards, it was like, ‘Oh, who’s got this one,'” cornerback Bashaud Breeland said.

Meredith, along with rookie running back Jordan Howard (119 yards rushing), are proving themselves as legitimate NFL talents and building blocks for 2017. The Bears just don't have enough of them on both sides of the ball.

“I think sometimes, when you come into a situation, you take some steps back before you take some steps forward,” Fox said. “In my opinion, we are in a way better position to be in striking distance moving forward.”

Fox will find out who else agrees with that opinion on Jan. 2. He's compiled a 9-22 record in Chicago, going 4-12 at home. If the Bears lose next week in Minnesota, it will be the first time in franchise history they've won only three games since the NFL instituted 16-game seasons and the first time they've gone 0-8 on the road. (They went 0-7 in the road in 1974.)

“These things weren’t built in a day,” Fox said.

But after two years, you expect to see something besides a giant hole in the ground.

Dan Durkin is the lead Bears writer for The Athletic Chicago. From 2011-2016, he covered the Bears for CBS Chicago and 670 The Score. Dan graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was also a member of the football team. Suivez Dan sur Twitter @djdurkin.